


A Grimm Semblance

by Fatal_fame



Category: RWBY
Genre: Jaune controls Grimm, Jaune has tats now, Jaune's head is like a party, People keep showing up, Semblance change, and nobody shuts the hell up, no one goes home
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2020-07-23 07:42:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20004736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fatal_fame/pseuds/Fatal_fame
Summary: After his fight with Pyrrha and Cardin learning of his transcripts, Jaune decided to head into the Emerald Forest to train. Instead he unlocked his semblance, something he had never expected. With his new found companions and knowledge of Grimm, he planned on taking the fight to Salem. One Grimm at a time.





	1. A Man, a Wolf, a Bear, a Bird

It was weird how peaceful the Emerald forest was.

When the Grimm weren't running around, it was beautiful.

The leaves were a beautiful green and just enough sunlight poured in, providing enough light to highlight the natural colors.

It was at this moment that Jaune wished he had a camera, to capture this quiet moment.

Or maybe he would try his hand at painting, start a new hobby.

But he was probably going to die.

Lying in the dirt, back against a tree, shield knocked away and barely able to hold onto his sword.

He had thought he had put up a good fight, but apparently the alpha Beowolf thought otherwise.

The Grimm advanced on him slowly, as if expecting a counter attack. 

Jaune stared back, not showing an ounce of fear. Planning to hopefully grab it with his left and stall it long enough to get in a stab. 

Not because he wasn't afraid, but because he simply couldn’t bring himself to care.

It was over for him, even if this worked, something else could come by and finish him.

There was nothing he could do. No point in whining or begging. 

This was it, end of story.

“Ya’know, it’s funny.” Jaune let out a chuckle as the alpha approached. “I saw what happened.”

He hadn’t stumbled on a pack and fought it. He had seen another team fighting Grimm. Hoping to get a few pointers, he sat down and watched them.

It showed just how far behind he was from his peers, even if these people were upper years. 

Mimicking the movements of a swordsman from where he was sitting, he hadn’t noticed the Alpha being slung at him by another member of the team. They went for a tumble before they both righted themselves.

Sword drawn and Grimm growling. They entered battle.

And that brought us to here. 

“Your… pack was killed.” The blond chuckled again as he gestured with his left hand, not sure what the term for a group of beowolves is. “And I lost mine to my own stupidity.” 

“In a way, I’m just like you.” Blue eyes closed as he started to laugh. “A being that brings down huntsmen, who drags them down until they die.”

“But, look at the bright side, at least we have each other.” Eyes opened to stare down his opponent. “Two lone wolves with nothing to lose.”

With that the Grimm lunged and his left hand went up. 

He didn’t notice the aura covering it.

The moment his palm and the Alpha Beowolf’s chest came in contact the world exploded in pain.

Jaune felt the Grimm struggle against his palm, yet something was forcing it against his hand. 

Soon the pain started to surge up his arm until it came to focus on the underside of his forearm. 

As the pain faded, Jaune managed to open his eyes. Seeing no threat, he slowly turned his arm around and moved his sleeve.

On it was a tattoo of an Alpha Beowolf.. 

‘Is this my semblance?’ He asked himself as he removed his glove and sleeve. ‘The ability to turn Grimm into tattoos?’

_ ‘Kill…’ _

“What?” Jaune started to look around as he tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. 

_ ‘Must...kill.’ _

“Kill...what?”

_ ‘Must...kill...you!’ _

With that his head exploded into pain, causing him to curl in on himself. 

Jaune’s mouth opened wide as he tried to scream, yet all that came out was a line of drool. He curled into a ball as he felt something ravage his skull. 

He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he knew he wanted the pain to stop. 

But he didn’t want to die.

So he fought, fought against the pressure in his skull, forcing it back with everything he had. 

Whether it was a minute or an hour, the pain started to recede. 

Slowly making his way back to his feet, he brought a hand to his head again.

‘The hell just happened?’ He asked himself as his other hand grasped at the tree behind him. 

_ ‘What...happened?’ _

“Hello,” Jaune started to look around as he heard the voice again. “Is anyone there?”

‘ _ I...Beowolf.’  _

“What?” Blue eyes widened in shock after a moment. “Are you in danger from a Grimm?”

_ ‘Am a...Beowolf.’ _

“Wait, what do you mean?” 

_ “I am a Beowolf!”  _

With that the tattoo on his wrist started to glow as something shot out of it. 

Landing in front of him was a shadow that started to take shape. 

As it settled into shape it stood before him.

An Alpha Beowolf. 

They both stared at each other. Neither moving or speaking at all.

“Uhh, hi.” Jaunt gave a little wave at the Grimm that was once part of him. 

“H-hello.” The Beowolf replied.

They continued to stare. 

“Did you just talk?” Jaune asked as he took a step forward, towards a beast that he should be slaying.

“I did.” The Beowolf started to look down at itself in what Jaune thought to be awe. “I can feel, I can think.”

“Did I do this?” The blonde mumbled to himself, causing the beast of darkness to look up at him.

“You did.” The Beowolf looked at him, head tilted to the side. 

“How?” Jaune wasn’t expecting an answer, but he got one.

“When we merged, our consciousness fought for dominance.” The Beowolf explained. “When yours had won, it seemed to impart some of your power into me. Thus giving me sentience.”

Jaune looked at his left arm in thought.

“So I basically beat you in a battle of wills, gave you some of my aura, and that makes you smarter.” Jaune summed up. 

“As far as I know.” The Grimm seemed to shrug. “I am basing this on my experience and what you know.” 

“This is…” Jaune was at a loss for words. 

“Amazing.” They both spoke at the same time. The blonde look at the Grimm as he raised his hand towards it. Lightly touching the white bone that shaped its head. 

When his fingers came into contact, the bone started to crack. Pulling his hand away, Jaune watched in fascination as the Grimm started to transform. 

Watching as it fell onto all fours, it’s body started to shift and take on a lighter color. As if made of clay, it’s body moulded until it looked like an actual wolf with a white coat.

“Did...I do that?” Jaune looked away as he tried to hide his embarrassment. “Sorry if I hurt you.”

“No, It didn’t hurt.” The wolf replied as he seemed to pause for a second. “It’s just…”

Within seconds he transformed again, back into his original form.

“I believe my aura has given me the ability to change shape.” He flexed his claws and turned to Jaune. “But it seems I can only change into a wolf.”

“Huh. Weird.” Jaune replied. “Must be your semblance.” 

It made as much sense as anything that happened in the last couple of minutes, all things considered.

But still this was amazing, with this he could learn how to fight Grimm from the very best teacher.

The Grimm themselves.

“Soooo…” Jaune lightly scratched the of his head as he tried to broach the topic.

How does one ask how to kill another's race? Without looking like a complete dick.

“You have questions about me and Grimm.” It was less of a question and more of a statement. “I will answer to the best of my abilities.”

“Thanks.”

“In exchange, I will ask questions in return.”

“Seems fair.” Holding out his hand to the Beowolf, the Grimm looked at it curiously.

“It’s a hand shake.” The blond explained as he took hold of the grimes arm and took it’s claw into his palm. “It’s a way of saying that we will follow through with what we promised.”

The Grimm lightly moved his claw up and down, careful not to hurt the human that gave him this chance.

“First things first.” Jaune pointed to himself. “My name is Jaune.”

“I’m afraid I do not have a name.” The Beowolf replied. “How does one get one?”

“A parent usually gives you it.” 

“I see.” Silent for a few seconds the Beowolf gestured to the huntsman in training. “Will you give me one?”

Jaune felt himself pull back slightly at the request, sliding down the tree against his back until he was in a sitting position.

“I do not have a “parent” as you say.” The Beowolf explained, awkwardly sitting down next to the blond. “You have given me the understanding that I needed for a name, so I ask you to give me one.”

It made sense, to Jaune at least. From what everyone knew, Grimm were just mindless beasts that’s only real intelligence came from age. And even that was mostly tactical. 

“A name…” The blue eyed knight looked around in an attempt to come up with something. He thought about the type of Grimm next to him, when a thought occurred.

“Rex.” Overused as it was, he felt it was something that fit. “I heard it means king in another language.”

“Rex.” The Beowolf tried it out, letting it roll around as in his mind. “Yes, I like it.” 

“Then, nice to meet you, Rex.”

“Likewise, Jaune.”

With that boy and beast began to talk, learning about the differences between them. 

The boy had told the Grimm about hunters and his family. How they used dust to help them fight and the different kingdoms. 

He told Rex about his own life, how he had cheated his way in to Beacon and how his friends were giving him the cold shoulder over it. How his family never believed in him, how he almost didn’t believe in him.

The Grimm just sat and listened.

When Jaune had finished, he felt better than he had in days. Just getting it out of his mind had felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest.

The Grimm did not move for several seconds, letting the boy breath. 

And then started to talk about his story.

The blond listened in fascination as the Beowolf talked. Taking all that was being said.

From the explanation of how he simply existed before today, how he and all Grimm were spawned from black pits of liquid. 

But what caught his attention was the name Salem.

From what Rex had told him, she was the leader of all Grimm. He had never truly seen her appearance, but he had always felt her presence in his mind.

Until Jaune severed that connection.

Blue eyes stared at the Grimm in a way that could only be described as “aw shit.”

He literally went from the most uninformed huntsman to one of, if not the only one, to know about the Grimm this way.

And he couldn’t tell anyone without looking nuts.

‘My life is a roller coaster.’ He thought, staring at nothing with a blank look on his face. ‘It’s in a downward spiral, going so fast I’m surprised my spine is still in my body.’

Seeing a claw in his vision, he snapped back to Rex, who seemed to have a concerned look on his face. 

Well, as concerned as a creature of darkness could be. 

“We have company.” Jerking his head up Jaune noticed several more beowolves entering the clearing.

And they did not look friendly.

“Ohh boy.” Standing up, the blond had felt his aura and body had recovered. Bringing up his sword, he prepared for battle.

When the first Beowolf jumped at him, he pulled back to slash it. Until it was tackled by Rex.

Watching the good Beowolf plunge his claws into the bad Beowolf, Rex seemed to curse as he ripped out his claws.

“As I suspected.” Jumping back, Rex turned to Jaune as the other Grimm got up. “Grimm can not kill Grimm, you must land the final blow.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Pulling his sword above his head, he drove the blade into the Grimm. 

Pulling away he and Rex went back to back as more Beowolves approached. 

“You’re in no shape to fight.” The Grimm told him. “So I’ll damage, you finish them off.”

“Right.” 

With that, for the first time, man and Grimm worked as one. 

The white blade hacked and slashed as the Beowolf created openings for him. They worked together as the Grimm fell one after another. 

As the last one fell, Jaune propped himself up with his sword, breathing heavily as Rex walked next to him. 

“That seems to be the last of them.” The Beowolf lightly placed his hands on Jaune, helping him stand.

“Awesome.” letting out a final huff, the blond pulled his sword from the ground. 

Just in time for an Ursa Major to charge at them. 

“Ohh, come one.” Picking up his sword, Jaune had an idea as he glanced at his hand. 

“Rex, hurt it as much as you can.” The knight flexed his left hand as the Beowolf looked at him. “I’m gonna get you a new playmate.”

“I see.” The smaller Grimm rushed the larger one, swiping with his claws as he danced around it.

Jaune joined in, stabbing its arms and legs, careful not to hit anything he deemed vital. 

With a simultaneous slash of both claws and sword, the large Grimm fell. 

Hopping onto its back, Jaune had a bright smile as he charged aura to his hand. 

“Here goes nothing!” With that he slammed his hand under the Grimm’s mask. 

The results were instantaneous, Jaune’s aura over took the Ursa and pulled it into him. Knowing what was to come next, he steeled himself for the confrontation.

It hit him like a train.

Falling to his knees he gripped his head, Feeling the pressure against the inside of his skull.

Unlike with Rex, who seemed to claw any way he could, the Ursa just pounded on one spot.

Still, he would not lose to an overgrown, walking rug.

And so he pushed back, with everything he had.

In the end, it was enough.

Feeling it focus on his bicep, he rolled up the other sleeve. Looking at the new tattoo, he smirked as it leapt off his body and took form. 

“Hello and welcome.” Jaune held out a hand to the bear like creature. “To the first day of consciousness.”

“G’day guv.” The Ursa replied as he took the blond’s hand. “How're you?”

The knight stared at the Ursa then turned to Rex, a question on both their minds.

‘Why does he have an accent?’

“Fine, thanks.” Pulling his hand back, Jaune scratched the back of his head. “Uhh, you’re probably wondering what’s going on.”

“Nahh, guv.” The large Grimm shrugged. “When I got some aura, I knew what had happened.”

Letting out a small hum of thought, Jaune turned back to Rex. 

‘Rex seemed to know everything about a language that he didn’t speak.’ Tilting his head, He raised a hand to his chin. ‘Could it be they know everything I know?’

It made sense, to him at least, they were a part of him for a brief moment.

‘Ehh, whatever.’ He figured. ‘Just makes my life easier.’

He was interrupted as a Nevermore fired a feather spear into the ground in front of him. Looking up towards the Grimm that started to circle around them, he held up a hand to block the sun to get a better look.

‘A bit smaller than the one Ruby and them fought.’ Pulling his hand back, Jaune smiled as he looked towards the Beowolf.

“Rex,” He looked towards the Ursa. “Beast.” He pointed at the Nevermore with his sword. “Three for three?” 

The Beowolf flexed his claws as the Ursa slammed his fist into his open hand.

**A Grimm semblance**

Strolling into Beacon in a good mood, Jaune flexed his left arm and felt the bones pop. Looking down at the sleeves that hid his new additions, he couldn’t help but start whistling as he walked.

With a hop in his step, he made his way to his dorm, wanting to grab a quick shower before he went to dinner. 

Seeing Cardin and his team on the way, who gave him a mocking wave. He casually waved back with a single finger. 

Seeing Cardin’s face reddened with anger was a beautiful sight to the blond.

‘Even if he leaks my transcripts, so what?’ Jaune smiled as he threw the doors open and walked into the dorms. ‘With my seblance, the entire world will want my attention.’

Finding his way up to his dorm, he casually opened the door. Closing it behind him, he stopped when he saw his partner.

“Jaune, you’re back.” Pyrrha noticed him as the door closed. Standing up from her bed, the red haired champion glanced at her partner, who was looking at her in… annoyance?

“Oh, hey Pyrrha.” Walking to his stuff, he pulled out some fresh clothes. “Ren and Nora at dinner?”

“Yes, they went ahead. I decided to wait for you.” Green eyes looked away for a moment. “Jaune about what you told me before, I...”

She was cut off as the door to the bathroom shut with a loud click. Hearing the shower start to run, she shook her head clear. 

‘What was that?` Pyrrha asked herself as she stared at the door. She had never seen Jaune so dismissive of anyone. Even when he had confessed about his transcripts, he had angrly acknowledged her. 

Now it was like he barely noticed her.

‘Maybe I need to give him more time.’ After all, he had never really been angry at anyone that she had seen. Maybe he was type to nurse a grudge for a long time? She didn’t know.

On the other side of the door, Jaune had turned on the water, but had not stepped under the spray.

‘Why did I do that?’ He asked himself as the water grew hotter, yet he did not move to it. ‘I’ll admit we’re not on the best terms, but I’ve never been that cold.’

‘That’s because you know your place compared to her.’ The newest addition spoke up. ‘It’s only natural that you would be annoyed by lesser beings.’

‘Okay, Soar, no.’ Jaune had no idea why, but for some reason the Nevermore was perhaps the most arrogant thing he had met. 

It probably had to do with the fact that he could fly. He could also shoot feathers, which was cool.

‘Perhaps your emotions are being affected by us.’ Rex spoke up, causing Jaune to frown thoughtfully.

‘Possible.’ Finally deciding that he wasted enough time. He stepped into the shower. Scrubbing off and ignoring his Grimm’s comments, he threw on his stuff and made his way to dinner.

Stopping before the cafeteria, the blond paused to make sure his sleeves were covering his new tattoos. After double checking everything, he opened the doors as nonchalantly as possible. Keeping himself to the other side of the hall then his team and RWBY.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yang and Ruby happily chatting, Nora telling a story to Ren, Blake reading while Pyrrha and Weiss were discussing something. Seeing a chance, he walked to the end and grabbed a tray and food.

Keeping his back to his friends, he sat at a table near the end. Staring at the window, he ate as his Grimm conversed in his mind.

He mostly tuned it out, considering they were mostly talking about literally anything they saw.

Just as he was finishing up, a commotion caught his attention. 

Cardin was pulling the ear of the rabbit fanus. Jaune couldn’t remember her name, but it reminded him of cake, for some odd reason. 

He was about to get up and intervene, when Rex cut through his thoughts.

‘Are you planning to help?’ The Beowolf asked, his tone seemingly disappointed.

‘I’m thinking about it, yes.’

‘Why?’ Soar was the one who spoke this time. ‘Is she not a huntress?’

‘Well, yeah…’

‘Then she should be fully capable of standing up for herself.’ Rex continued. ‘If she cannot stand up to schoolyard bullying, how can she stand up to Grimm?’

That gave the blond pause. Although he had not seen the girl fight, he had assumed she was strong if she had managed to survive to become an upper year. 

So why wasn’t she fighting back against Cardin?

‘The teachers weren’t stopping it.’ He thought as his eyes strayed to the staff table. ‘Maybe they won’t unless there’s actual violence.’

And even if the staff won’t interfere, where was her team?

He supposed it could have been a bit of a test, get her to stand up for herself.

But it was obvious it wasn’t working.

So if she wasn’t going to stand up for herself and no one else is going to stand up for her, should he?

And surprisingly, he decided no, he didn’t. 

He had his own problems with Cardin’s bullying, though it was going to end.

The biggest problem he had was that if he did do something, odds are his semblance would come out.

And summoning Grimm in the middle of a room full of Grimm slayers in training would probably end badly for him.

So, despite wanting to help, he figured it’d be best to not to draw attention to himself.

At least until he could use his Grimm and not end up with his head on a stick.

He gave one last glance back at Cardin, before opening the doors and heading out.

His time would come, sooner or later.

**A Grimm semblance**

Jaune was up bright and early the next day. 

After he had returned to the dorm, he had just managed to get on his onesie before his team returned. Which he was thankful for considering the sleeves. 

And the fact that it was awesome. And anybody who said otherwise obviously didn’t know the feeling of wearing something comfortable that was made by a little sister. 

Okay, so his older sister did most of the work, but his little sister was the one who had the idea. So it totally counted.

Changing in the bathroom, he quietly made his way out the dorm after grabbing some text books. Moving to the kitchen, he grabbed as much food as he could carry and put it in a bag.

With his weapon, food, books and Grimm. He went back to the Emerald Forest to spend the day training. 

Which was going pretty well, in his opinion.

While he didn’t really fight them, he and his Grimm tried to figure out the limit to his semblance. 

And he found out a whole lot.

Sitting down with his notes. The blond looked over his list.

The first part was everything he already knew about. Such as the absorption and stuff.

The next was hypothetical, which came with a mixed bag, but still good. Such as Grimm semblance and distance.

The last was just general notes as he learned. Like the fact his Grimm could eat and regain aura as soon as they swallowed.

Feeling something coming, Jaune casually grabbed his sword and ran the Beowolf that Beast was holding through. When it vanished, he laid the sword down next to him and threw Beast a slice of meat.

They all liked meat, for some reason.

Reaching up to give Soar, who was beak first in a book on dust, a quick pet. He grabbed his pencil and started to write again.

“Jaune, you and Rex have been like that for half an hour.” Soar complained as he jumped down onto Jaune’s arm. “I wanna see what we can do.” 

“Probably a good idea.” The black haired blond agreed. Feeling Rex pull from his body, his enhanced sense of smell went back to normal as the marks and black once pulled away to become his Beowolf.

The feeling of a Grimm entering and leaving his body like that was so strange. With them just being tattoos, he can feel them on that part of his body.

But when he and they actually merged, it was a whole other experience.

His body changed, yet he felt like the changes were something he had his entire life.

Like when he and Beast were one, his muscle gained a huge amount of mass. 

With Rex, his sense of smell grew sharper as bone like claws extended from his fingers.

Now to see what he had with Soar.

Jaune pushed himself off the ground as he looked behind him in awe as he raised his hoodie.

A pair of blackish blue wings sprouted out of his uncovered back. 

Somehow managing to move them in front of his face, he lightly ran his hand over one. 

“Soar.” He said out loud. “I’m going to have so much fun with this.”

With that he flapped the wings towards a tree in front of him, smiling wide as feathers embedded themselves into it.

Next he wanted to see if he could actually fly. 

But he figured he should at least read up about how it would work instead of just jumping off a cliff.

No Pyrrha around to pin him by the hoodie if it didn’t work.

On the senses side of things, his eyes could perceive things way better. 

Yep, things were looking up for Jaune Arc.

But of course, there was always more to find. 

Like more Grimm.

After all, the three he had were only the start. 

By the end of his four years here, he’d have one of every type.

And then he’d take the fight to Salem.


	2. Meetings

A week had passed, leaving Jaune once again in the Emerald forest. Sitting against a tree by a clearing he had been using to train, he took some time to rest after his workout.

He was making good progress in both his grades and physical abilities, the latter more than the former.

Which, while not at the level they should be at, were getting there.

Although Jaune was kinda surprised by his progress, considering it usually took a long time to get truly fit.

He figured aura had something to do with it. After all, if it could heal bruises from an Ursa punch, than it should relieve muscle pain.

As for his grades, well although he was truly hitting the books as best he could. He just didn’t have the head for it.

Which is why Rex and Soar were the ones who did most of his studying and told him the answers.

Which was not cheating, since they lived with him and were in his head. It wasn’t wrong to let the voices in his head to do work for him.

They were a team and that meant they had to work to their strengths. 

And their strengths just happened to help him with class work. 

But, this time he wasn’t studying anything they covered in class. 

He was working on his plan to fight Salem.

His plan was in three points, with more steps to be added or changed as he went.

First step: find Salem.

Second step: kill Salem.

The final step: hopefully not die.

The biggest problem he was facing was lack of information. 

While his friends did tell him as much as they knew, they just didn’t know that much to begin with.

All they really knew was that she existed and that, by her voice, she was female.

So, as much as he didn’t want too, he may have to do this completely blind.

Which, as the initiation had shown him, was a good way to die.

“Okay, so she has to be old.” Jaune said as he wrote that down. “I mean, Grimm become smarter with age, so it would make sense.”

“She’d also have to be strong.” Rex pointed out, gesturing with one of his claws. “You don’t become the Queen of Grimm by being easy to kill.”

“True.” Jaune nodded as he added that to his list.

“She has a connection to all Grimm, which would cause no end of headaches.” Soar tilted his head in thought. “Than again, if her age is as great as we believe, she may have had enough time to adjust.”

“Fair point.”

“And then there's her end goal.” Beast brought up from Jaune’s left. “If she really wanted, she could keep chuckin’ Grimm at the Kingdoms till they fell.”

“Makes sense.” Writing down the last point, the blond closed the book and put the pencil down. “So, what we know is what we can guess.”

“Seems like it.” White claws went to scratch at Rex’s throat as he thought.

“Ehh, not like it matters at the moment.” Beast shrugged as he leaned back against the tree. “She hasn’t been doing anything now, what are the odds of that changin’?”

“The oaf has a point.” Soar jumped from a branch and onto the Ursa’s head. “She’s seems to be doing nothing, I highly doubt that will change for anything.”

“I know, I know.” Jaune let out a sigh as he also flopped back. “I just can’t help but worry.”

“And that’s to be expected.” Jaune felt the Beowolf start patting his head. “But even if we had the chance to attack. Most likely it wouldn’t end well.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Placing the notebook in his bag with a sigh, Jaune stood up and stretched. “I think that’s enough sitting around, whose turn is it?”

“Mine.” Soar jumped off Beast’s head and into the clearing just ahead of Jaune. “Ready when you are.” 

Grabbing his sword, Jaune unsheathed the blade as the shield expanded outwards. As the bird reared back and Jaune took a stance, they were interrupted.

“Jaune.” Rex held out the blond’s scroll, on it was a single message.

“Mr Arc, please meet me in my office ASAP. Headmaster Ozpin.” Jaune read out loud. Holding up his arm and feeling his raven Grimm land on it.

Trading a glance with him, than Beast and finally Rex. Jaune let out a sigh.

‘I totally forgot this could happen.’ Feeling his friends go back onto his arm, Jaune let it drop. ‘Well, only thing to do now is go in with my head held high and prepare to beg to keep my place.’

**A Grimm Semblance**

“So,” Ozpin started as he looked at his staff from behind his mug. “I’ve called you all here to discuss the current development of Jaune Arc.”

“With all due respect, Ozpin.” Oobleck went first, hoping to get to why this meeting was called about the boy. “While I have noticed an increase in quality in his work. I don’t believe that’s a cause for a meeting.” 

“And I have noticed the same.” Port followed up. “And as much as I enjoy watching my students prosper, I have to concur with Barty.”

“And as for his combat skills.” Goodwitch leveled an even look at Ozpin. “I haven’t seen any improvements, but that may be because you ordered me not to call upon him.”

Ozpin took another sip of coffee, before replying. “I am also pleased by his increase in performance.” Taking another drink his eyes slowly went over his staff. “However, what I wanted to talk about was his behaviour.”

“His behaviour?” The combat instructor repeated back as the portly professor let out a “hmm.”

“Now that you mention it…” Port mumbled as he thought back on the week. “Sometimes when I’m telling the tales of my youth, I find that his face takes on a wide array of emotions from confusion, which I will admit is fairly normal hearing such awesome stories, to pure annoyance when I talk about how I defeated Grimm.”

“I’ve also seen some changes, such as when I call him to answer questions.” The caffeine addicted doctor seemed to think of something. “While he usually has the right answer, it takes him a minute.” 

“And not only that, but sometimes he seems to stop himself after giving an answer, correct himself and then maybe change his answer back to the previous one.” Oobleck went on as he took a drink of coffee. “And sometimes he just pays attention to his notes that I have to call upon him multiple times to get his attention.”

“I’ve had the exact same problem with him.” Port began to stroke his moustache. “I had thought that he was simply making sure his notes were perfect, but now… I suppose you believe there’s more to it, Oz?”

“I have my theories.” Ozpin shrugged and went to the blonde. “However, I would like to know how he is engaging with his team.”

“He seems… skittish for lack of a better word.” Goodwitch replied as she thought back. “While he makes sure to talk to them and listen, it almost like he believes they will attack him on a moments notice.”

“It’s as if his attitude is mostly forced for the sake of others…” she trailed off as her green eyes widened. “Is he being abused by his team?” 

That got both the other teachers attention. If he truly was being abused for his lackluster performance by his team, it would explain why he was trying to get his grades up while putting on a facade.

“I can assure you, he is in no way being abused by anyone.” Ozpin was quick to kill the assumption before it barely got off the ground. “Besides, even if he was, his friends would put a stop to it.”

“But, we believe his friends are the ones hurting him?” As if on cue, the elevator dinged, showing that someone had arrived. 

“Ahh, perfect, Mr Arc has arrived.” Smiling behind his mug as the teen walked in, Ozpin gestured to the open seat in front of him. “Mr Arc, please sit down.” 

Taking the offered chair, blue eyes nervously went from one teacher to the next before settling back on Ozpin. 

“You wanted to see me about something, sir?” Jaune’s voice was respectful, a bit curious and still held the nervousness his body was showing them.

“Yes, do you know why?” Brown eyes peered into blue as Jaune opened his mouth.

Only to close it as his eyes started to dart from side to side. The other instructors watched in interact as he finally seems to settle on something.

“I have my guesses.” His response was neutral, slow and careful. “But I didn’t want to make any assumptions.” 

“I see.” Looking over to his monitor, he typed in something before turning back to the teen. “I have noticed a...discrepancy in your transcripts that I was hoping you could help to clear up.”

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Then let’s start with the first issue with them.” Ozpin types away again before taking another sip of his coffee. “Your transcripts are fake.”

That got a reaction from everyone, from Port’s startled gasp to Oobleck staring at Jaune in shock then finally Goodwitch glaring at the boy.

Throughout his many lives, Ozpin had learned a lot about how to handle situations. Whether it was by subtly pushing things, making sure circumstances went the way he wanted.

And, in this case, when to take his point and use it as a brick to smash something before anyone could react.

Jaune seemed suitably shocked at the headmaster just putting out one of his biggest secrets, when suddenly he grasped his head and let out a quick moan of pain.

Letting the emotion slide off his face with a few breaths, Jaune proceeded to reply.

“I won’t deny it.” The teen shrugged his shoulders as he tilted his head to the side. “I’m just surprised I made it this far without being called out.”

“I will admit, when we first got them, your transcripts were up to standard.” Ozpin shrugged in return. “However, your lack of training was obvious, which lead to me taking a double check.”

“So, you’ve known about your transcripts for a while now.” Jaune’s eyes narrowed as his left arm tensed up. “That leads back to my previous thought, why now?”

“To put it simply, I saw potential in you.” Ozpin was content to continue his conversation with the boy as his staff watched on, wondering where he was going with this.

“...and I suppose I have failed to live up to this potential.” Jaune leaned back in his chair, once again tilting his head to the side. “So I guess I’m going to be expelled.” 

“Perhaps.” Ozpin raises his mug to his lips again. “Unless there's something that you believe could change my mind?”

Jaune’s mouth opened once again and again his hand went up to grasp his head. 

Taking in a few more breaths, the blond’s eyes were once again bouncing from side to side as he seemed to come up with an answer.

“...I don’t see any reason that I should be able to change your mind.” Slow, deliberate, careful. “I mean, if I had something like that, what’s stopping me from going somewhere else?”

“The fact you were expelled and having the reason why revealed would most likely put a stop to that.”

“That doesn’t make much sense.” Jaune seemed to see a point he could make. “I mean, if you think I can do something for you to overlook my transcripts, what’s stopping others?”

That gave the other teachers pause, if only for a moment. If what Ozpin was implying was true, than there truly was something about Jaune that could have expulsion overlooked.

But what exactly could that be, it couldn’t be training of any type.

Unless...

“You unlocked your Semblance.” It was Goodwitch who had brought out the thought, but still seemed skeptical.

What type of Semblance could make someone like Ozpin truly overlook a fraud?”

“And you knew, didn’t you, sir.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact. 

“From the beginning.” Another sip of coffee. “I wanted to see what you would do before making a decision.”

Eyes once again darting from side to side, Jaune’s right hand moved to cover his left arm.

“You will not be harmed.” Ozpin assured him. “And neither will your friends, you have my word.”

Eyes darting from side to side started to slow down, until they once again found themselves on Goodwitch, before moving back over to Port and Oobleck.

“Fine.” Stripping of his glove and sleeve, while pulling the shoulder sleeve up. He showed the Grimm tattoos on his body.

“You win.” 

With that the tattoos became ink as they kept off his skin. Landing on the ground and taking form, the Grimm immediately moved to surround Jaune.

Goodwitch was the first to react, going for her riding crop. 

As her hand reached around it, Jaune had fully unsheathed Crocea Mors. 

“All of you stop!” Ozpin had not yelled, but his voice had carried the same weight as if he did. “You have all just witnessed me making a promise to Jaune Arc, I’d prefer that you not make a liar out of me.” 

Although the tension in the room was palpable, they all followed the headmaster’s instruction. 

“Of course, Headmaster Ozpin.” Goodwitch put her crop back as Jaune resheathed his blade. Holding his hand up and waving it, the Grimm slowly pulled back into a non threatening stance.

“It’s all right.” The blond teen said as his eyes never left Goodwitch. “If the Headmaster says we won’t be harmed, I trust him.”

“You’re too trusting, Jaune.” Rex transformed into his wolf form and took his place by Jaune’s side, who reached down to scratch him. “But, I won’t use aggression as long as they won’t.”

“You’re the boss, boss.” Beast walked over to the wall to sit down against it, now in bear form.

“I’m sure we would have defeated you all no problem.” Soar landed on the back of Jaune’s chair and tilted his head. “So consider yourselves lucky we don’t need to kill you.”

“Ignore him.” Jaune, using his other hand, he gave the raven a light bop. “He thinks we’re better than we actually are.”

The other three professors simply stared, before Port had managed to speak.

“This…” mouth dropped as he surveyed his student and his Grimm. “How…?”

“We’re not sure of the details ourselves.” Reaching into his bag, Jaune pulled out his Semblance notes. “I’ve written down everything we’ve figured out in this, as well as thoughts and theories.”

“Feel free to make a copy, but I want it back.” Having handed it to Port, the student turned back to Ozpin.

“So, if I was to stay.” He figured he might as well get it out of the way. “How exactly would that work?” 

“You can leave that to me.” Ozpin waved off his concerns. “What I want to talk about is the basics of your Semblance.”

“Well, from what we’ve figured out.” Jaune began. “It seems that I have to overpower the Grimm with my aura, it usually helps if the Grimm is damaged.”

“At that point.” Rex took over as Jaune pulled his hand away. “It becomes a battle of wills. If Jaune wins, we gain some of his aura.”

“It’s strange.” Beast continued the explanation. “Before, we just existed. Then we’re able to think and feel.”

“With the aura we’ve been given, we also seem to have the knowledge that Jaune has at the time.” Soar jumped onto Jaune’s now outstretched arm. “We have, since then, studied up on your lessons and cultures.”

“Fascinating.” Port let out as he stood up. Reaching out his arm, he stopped himself before he did anything.

“May I?” The large professor asked Jaune, gesturing towards the wolf.

“Rex.” 

“Pardon?”

“His name is Rex.” Slipping off his seat, Jaune proceeded to give the wolf a huge scratching as Soar proceeded to land on Ozpin’s desk.

“I see, of course.” Port once again gestured to the Beowolf. “May I examine Rex?”

“...not what I meant.” Looking down at the wolf Jaune asked. “Would you be willing to let the Professor examine you, Rex?”

“As long as it’s not painful.”

“Of course not.” Port assured them. “I just wish to test strength, vision, that sort of thing.”

“Very well then.” Standing up the wolf turned to the portly professor. “Do you wish to do it here?”

“No, I prefer if it could be done in a testing arena.” Turning to the blond, Port nodded. “And I owe you an apology.” 

“What for?”

“You treat them with the respect and care that would be given anyone else.” Port explained, looking a little ashamed. “And just because I have been fighting them for decades, does not mean I shouldn’t do the same.”

“It’s nothing.” Jaune waved him off. “I’m not surprised, as you said, you’ve been fighting for decades.” 

“Trust is built over time.” Jaune smiles at Beast as Soar once again landed on his arm. “And there’s a lot of bad blood between us and the Grimm.”

“Wonderful.” Oobleck praised, standing up to give a quick round of applause. “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

“Well, after having them living in my head for a week. You tend to learn a lot, really quick.” Looking at the hyperactive doctor, Jaune shrugged. “Besides, they can do whatever they want, it’s they’re call.”

“You give them a surprising amount of freedom.” Goodwitch noted, causing the student to look at her, confusion on his face. Then seemed to have a moment of clarity. 

“Okay, forgot to explain a key detail.” Jaune reached up to scratch the back of his head. “I don’t tell them what to do and they obey.” 

“They can do whatever they want, that includes leaving me.”

**A Grimm Semblance**

At little later then the staff meeting, another meeting was being held inside JNPR’s dorm.

“Okay!” Ruby called out to her team and NPR. “Today we are meeting about Jaune and why he’s been so secretive lately.” 

“Right.” Nora, as excitable as always, quickly jumped up from her bed. “We need to get to the bottom of this. Maybe he’s a secret agent, or a mercenary working for the highest bidder, maybe he’s doing some super secret training that will make him the strongest!”

“Nora, calm down.” Ren spoke up, ever the voice of reason. “I’m sure Jaune’s reason for this is far more simple than that.” Despite his tone, everyone could pick up the slight worry for his team leader.

Pyrrha was strangely silent, which was odd considering her crush on the boy in question.

“Look, I like vomit boy as much as the next girl.” Yang spoke up, leaning back on the bed she was sitting on. “But, I also think he’s entitled to his own secrets. If he wants to tell us, I’m sure he would.”

“He wouldn’t.” The invincible girl spoke up. “He seems to think he has to do this alone, to live up to his family name.” 

“Okay, so maybe he wouldn’t tell us.” The blonde brawler amended. “Still, he’s entitled to his own secrets.” 

“I agree.” The ninja of RWBY spoke up. “We all have something we want to keep to ourselves.”

“And I respect that.” Ruby replied as she started pacing. “But what if he’s being hurt or bullied? We know that’ Cardin’s been super mean to him since the beginning of the year.”

“Actually, he’s been pretty much ignoring Cardin.” Ren replied, stopping Ruby. “Although, it only seems to be enraging him.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Ruby turned to the calmest member of JNPR. “With the field trip to Forever Fall that’s coming up, it’ll be the perfect chance for revenge.”

“Against Arc?” Weiss’ voice had a bit of disbelief in it. “Arc may be a dunce, but even I don’t think he’s done anything to warrant that.”

“That’s the thing about bullies.” Yang leaned back on her hands. “They don’t stop until their stopped.”

“Personal experience?”

“A couple of people from Sigal thought Rubes would be an easy target.” The brawler shrugged. “They learned that was a bad idea.”

“Anyways.” Ruby quickly cut in, before they got off track. “Remember, were talking about Jaune.”

“Maybe he’s taking being a hunter more seriously.” Blake decided to throw in her own two lien, if only to get back to her reading. “He’s not the best student, so he could be buckling down.”

“If I would guess, I’d say the same.” Ren followed up, brushing some hair out of his eyes. “Anytime I see him, he usually reading.”

“But isn’t that just as bad?” The reaper repiled. “I know studying is important,” she ignored Weiss’ snort. “But my uncle always said it was just as important to talk to and work with others.”

“What if, maybe…” Pyrrha almost didn’t want to finish the thought. “He doesn’t like us?”

That silenced even Nora’s energy for a moment, before she responded.

“But, why would fearless leader not like us?” Nora asked the champion, why was still looking down. “I mean, he always hung out with us.”

“It could have been an act.” Green eyes still refused to come up. “He told me that being a hero is his dream, maybe he was acting like he felt a hero would?”

“Pyrrha, are you suggesting that Jaune was just tolerating us?” Yang seemed to be almost offended by that. “So him helping Ruby on the first day was just him doing what he believed he should!?”

“It’s possible.”

“Ruby?” Weiss’ voice was soft as she put a hand on her partner’s shoulder. Everyone turned to them as they say Ruby shake slightly.

“Jaune doesn’t like us?” She asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. “He’s just playing along?”

That hit Ruby with enough force an Ursa punch couldn’t compare. The thought that her friend, her first friend in Beacon, actually didn’t like her.

Uncle Qrow had told her that there would be people who would try to use her and to keep an eye out. 

But, she thought what she and Jaune had a real friendship, like two awkward dorks who could be awkward together. Vomit boy and crater face, friends forever.

Now her entire view of him had been thrown for a loop.

Did he actually like her? Was he just playing along because that’s what he thought he should do? Or did he just pity her and acted like her friend.

“Stop.” Ren voice cut through her thoughts and everyone else voices. “We’re jumping to conclusions and that won’t help us.”

“I’ll admit, I don’t know much about Jaune.” Ren continued. “But, he once told me something his mother always used to say. Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.”

“The way he said it, with the smile on his face, told me he believed every word.” A calm smile made its way onto his face as he saw the youngest then them started to calm down. 

“Once again, I bet he just needs time to himself. Once he’s feeling better, he’ll be back to his old self.” 

“Right!” Nora jumped up with a double fist pump. “Jaune-Jaune gonna be back and better than ever!” 

“Yeah!” The red reaper started to smile again.”But I still want to make sure that Jaune not getting hurt.”

“Hurt by what now?” The man of the hour had walked into the room, putting his scroll back into his pocket. He looked around his teams room in confusion. “And did I miss a meeting? Because I was in another meeting.”

“What about?” Ren was the one who asked, hoping they would get a decent explanation.

“About my grades, stuff like that.” Taking a breath, Jaune reaches up to scratch the back of his head. “And about, well, us.”

“Something wrong with the team?”

“No, not like that just…” Taking a breath, he decided it to just go for it. “I want to apologize.”

“I’ve been a real jerk to you guys for a bit, and I want to say it’s not your fault.” Jaune shrugged a bit. “Just a little trouble at home.”

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked as she sat down on a nearby bed. “Is something wrong with your parents?”

“Nothing serious like that.” He assured them. “Just my sisters are fighting and I'm the neutral party for scraps like that.” 

“Are they making you take sides?”

“No, it's just that I’m the guy who sits there and lets em vent.” Throwing his bag beside his bed, Jaune then threw himself onto the bed. “And it’s just not the same listening over a scroll.”

“What are they fighting about?” Pyrrha asked him as she sat down on her bed, curiosity in her tone. 

“I have no idea.” Jaune’s hands stretched out as he yawned. “I just sit there and listen.” 

“Anyways, I’m pretty tired.” Sitting back up, the blond gave them a smile. “How about tomorrow we all do something, mess around Vale or a movie night.”

“Why not both?” Yang seemed to like the idea and everyone else’s agreed with it, as long as all their homework was complete.

With plans being made and everyone’s mood lifting, Jaune took the time to start his nightly routine.

Brushing his teeth, flossing and stripping down to his undies. 

Before he put on his onesie, he took one last look at his left arm.

His right hand slowly rubbed his arm, pay particular attention to the blank patches where his Grimm used to be.

He only hoped the teachers were keeping their word about not hurting them.

Of course, there was the other reason he was here.

One of the things he had to do was get along with his team. 

Which, over the past week, was not as good as it used to be.

It’s not that he didn’t trust them, he knew they would be understanding about anything he told them.

The problem was, would they trust his Grimm?

That was more of a mixed bag.

Which is why he was keeping them to himself for now.

So until he was strong enough to hold them back in case they attacked him or at least long enough for them to calm down. HIs semblance stayed with him.

And the teachers.

So he was going to focus on the important questions.

Like where the hell he was going to find two Boarbatusks for Professor Port?


	3. Excursion

A Grimm Semblance 

Ch.3 Excursion

The trip to Vale went well and everybody had a lot of fun.

Jaune especially felt some of the stress of the past few weeks leave his body as he laughed and joked with his friends.

With Salem, his Grimm and studying for class, he didn’t really have time to just relax. 

Which, he would admit, was mostly self caused, but when your planning to take on the queen of evil, relaxing wasn’t really on the forefront of his mind.

Which the cure was watching a movie with car chases, explosions and hot chicks.

The trifecta of of mindless perfection. Which is why he picked it.

No real plot, no real drama, just action.

So when he woke up on Monday he felt well rested and ready for anything.

Like hunting Boarbatusks with Professor Port after class.

“Please my boy, call me Peter.” Feeling the portly man slap a hand on his back, Jaune barely managed to keep in his vomit after getting off the bullhead. “After all, we are two men on a hunt together, titles like professor have no meaning for now.”

“Uhh, no thanks.” A couple of deep breaths and a claw softly rubbing his back, Jaune managed to get his stomach under control. “I can’t help but feel that would be kinda disrespectful.” 

“No worries, my boy. While I’m sure that you feel you are not on my level, make no mistake, you are my equal in this trip.” Bringing a hand up, he started to rub his moustache in thought. “Hmm, since you’re the one getting the Grimm, perhaps you should be the leader of this expedition?”

“How about we have it as a one on one learning experience with a professor?” It wasn’t that he didn’t like the professor, once you got past the eccentricity, he was definitely a man Jaune would want by his side.

But, if he were to start to refer to the man by name, then they would become friends. 

And Gods knows what that would mean. 

“Could be worse.” Rex shrugged in his Beowolf form. “He could try to be “hip with the kids.”

Blue eyes stared at the Alpha Beowolf as they blinked slowly. The image of Port with a sideways cap and speaking in outdated slang came to mind.

“Praise the gods.” The blond quickly taped his hand against his chest in prayer. Seeing his teacher moving forward, he ran to catch up.

“Now, as much as this hunt is meant to find the Boarbatusks, it is also a way for me to see your abilities first hand.”

“Wouldn’t Miss Goodwitch be better for this than?” He knew that getting the Grimm for Port was to help him understand Grimm. But a combat test? He would assume the combat instructor would be the one to oversee it.

“She’s doing some last minute checks for the field trip on Friday.” Port explained as they continued forward. “And this is less combat and more an all around examination.”

“Okay.” Holding out his arm, Soar landed on it in his raven form. “Scouting report?” 

“Nothing that could be considered unusual.” The Nevermore reported, his tone professional. “Packs of Beowolves, a few Ursas, the Boarbatusks are more to the north of here.”

“Ahh, good.” Port clapped his hands together. “This will certainly give us an advantage.”

“And, while not unusual for here, I believe I saw a Deathstalker in the area.” He continued on. “I’m not sure how big, nor am I sure if I truly saw a Deathstalker, so exercise caution.”

“Thanks Soar, we will.” Pulling out a bit of chicken, he held it up as Soar quickly started to eat it.

“Of course, caution is one of the most important attributes for a huntsman to have.” Port lectured his student and his Grimm. “And remember, a hunter’s most valuable asset is their own life. Never be afraid to flee if you are sure you can not win.”

“Now, part of this is that I am not to assist you unless absolutely necessary or if I’m attacked myself.” The large professor told him. “Once again, it will only be if I feel you are in over your head or something truly dangerous comes.”

“Understandable.” Soar spoke up after swallowing the chicken. “But, I doubt we’ll need it.”

“While I do not share my friends confidence to that level, I am certain we will be able to handle ourselves.” Rex flexed his claws as he kept looking around for enemies.

“And if anythin’ gets too close, I’ll smash ‘em good.” The Ursa slammed his fist into his claw, creating a loud bang.

“Good, I don’t believe you’ll need my help.” The larger man laughed at the display. “But, to use an old phrase, you never know what will happen.”

“I believe I know.” The Beowolf tensed up. “Grimm!”

Jaune quickly brought up his shield and tighten his grip on his sword. Thinking quickly, he decided on a plan of action.

“Basic formation!” He blocked a Beowolves’ strike. “Don’t stray too far!” 

“Of course.” Rex quickly started to use his claws against the other Grimm, while Soar flew over head and fired feathers at any Grimm in range.

Jaune and Beast hung back, only really attacking when they had to or when Jaune had to finish an enemy off.

Port watched as his student and Grimm fought, mentally taking notes on his students fighting style.

While it seemed Jaune had improved by a good bit, he seemed to be relying on his Grimm a bit to much.

Which he supposed wasn’t a bad thing, since he was taking advantage of his semblance. But, if his Grimm were taken away, it could be a massive problem.

Other than that, he seemed to have a proper handle on combat. Although he seemed to be getting a bit… too enthusiastic.

Jaune slammed his foot on a fallen Beowolf. Flipping his sword around into a reverse grip, he gave a vicious smile as he brought it up.

“End game.” With that he brought his blade down into its head, before putting his other foot on its neck to wrench the blade out.

That...could become a problem. 

But with a healthy support system, Port was sure he’d be able to keep those impulses under wraps.

The teacher watched as Jaune proceeded to force a Beowolf onto its knees, get behind it and slit its throat.

Mostly under wraps.

With a final slash, the last Grimm fell. Bringing up his hand, Jaune called the Grimm back to him.

“Excellent.” Port walked up to his student, who was still on alert for other Grimm. “You all seem to have a grasp on teamwork, but I believe you need to work on solo combat.”

“Trust me, I know.” Folding the shield back up, he looked over his family’s sword. “I’ve been thinking of changing weapons though.” 

“Any particular reason?” The professor had seen that as a whole his student improved, it was obvious that the sword and shield did not suit him as well as it should.

“I don’t know, it’s like…” Jaune seemed to be searching for the right words as the Grimm continued to patrol for enemies. “I wanted to be a huntsman because of my family’s legacy, ya know?”

“But using my Semblance, it’s like I don’t want to continue the Arc legacy.”

“You want to create your own.” Port finished for him, causing the blond to nod at him.

“And while I still want to use my great grandfather’s sword, part of me feels like it’s holding me back somehow.”

“In a way it is a reminder of your family ties.” Port told him as Jaune prepared to pull out the shield again. “But just because your grandfather used it one way, does not mean you can’t use it another.”

“What do you mean?”

“That just because it was a sword and shield to someone else, does not mean it has to be the same to you.” Port folded the shield back into a sheath and took Jaune’s hand that held Crocea Mors. “Perhaps your strength will lie in simple sword play.”

“Maybe.” If he was honest, he always felt like the shield was a hindrance to him, Jaune just figured that was because of inexperience. But now though, the good professor seemed to have a point.

‘In video games, you should try everything until you find the style that’s right for you.’ Strapping the scabbard to his side, he held out the sword in one hand. ‘I’ve tried sword and shield, now I’ll try just the sword.’

Feeling a nudge in his head, he quickly went low. 

Ducking down and around the Beowolf’s swings, Jaune stood and sized up his opponent as the others fought on.

He kept the end pointed at the Grimm as it rushed him, causing him to step out of the way. It came at him again, and he did the same as before.

His foot started to tap against the ground as he started to hum a song to himself. Letting the Grimm come at him again, he spun around the claw and slashed it.

Keeping up the pace, Jaune quite literally danced circles around it. When it swung he would do a quick step to the side. When it lunged he would spin around it, using his free hand to knock it off course.

The professor watched as his student fought, hand on his moustache in thought. 

He could already tell that it was an improvement from before, not a lot, but it was still an improvement.

Now that he thought about it, didn’t he have some sword instruction books in his room? Perhaps he could lend them to Jaune.

There was an idea. Although Jaune had offered his semblance for no return, it wouldn’t be right to let the boy go unrewarded.

After all, the blond was spending his free time helping the school collect Grimm, he deserved to be compensated for his efforts.

He was brought out of his musings when something flew out from the side. 

The Boarbatusk was average size, give or take, exactly what Port had wanted. 

He waited to see how Jaune would react. 

Jaune backed himself up, until he was caught between a tree and the approaching Grimm. He stood his ground, his right hand holding his sword while his left went up into the air.

Seconds before impact, Soar swooped in, with Jaune hitching a ride by grabbing onto his feet. 

Watching the boar like Grimm stop against the tree. As soon as it’s movement was halted, Beast grabbed it. It struggled as it was lifted off it’s feet.

And immediately slammed back onto the ground. 

The student and teacher watched as the Ursa kept bringing it up just to bring it back down. 

“This is way more entertaining than it should be.” Jaune leaned back against a tree, holding out his left hand so Soar could land on it.

“I’ll admit, it is something.” Leaning down to give the Beowolf a scratch, Port watched on. “Do you think that’ll be enough?”

“I’d say so.” Letting his raven lift off from his arm. Jaune walked over to where his Ursa was still going at it. 

“Beast, that’s enough.” The blonde called out to the Ursa, who continued on. 

“Ya sure?” Beast turned to Jaune as he continued. “Cause I can keep this up.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Jaune watched as the Boarbatusk was dropped one more time, before pulling back his arm and grabbing it.

“You will be mine.” With that he began to adsorb it. As the last of the Grimm went into his body, Jaune took in a breath as he prepared for pain.

He felt it start to spin in his head, before it took off and raced around in his skull. 

Gripping with both hands, Jaune fought back against the pain. Grasping for breath as a hand and claw held him steady.

The first was always the worst, not knowing how the Grimm would try to rip through his mind or how much aura to use.

But he was still relatively fresh, while it had taken quite the beating.

Making it that much easier.

Feeling it take form on his right arm, Jaune removed the sleeve over it and watched as it jumped off of it and took form. 

“Hello, new friend.” Jaune held out a hand to the Grimm, which nuzzled into it.

“Hiya, Jaune.” The voice was high pitched and energetic. “Are we gonna go on an adventure?”

“Well, we are on an adventure.” Jaune replied as he stood up and stretched. “We’re hunting for Grimm.”

“Adventure!” He started to roll around the group, who watched in amusement.

“Quite rambunctious, isn’t he?” Port chuckled as the Boarbatusk came to a stop. 

“You never know what you’re gonna get with Grimm.” Reaching out, Jaune started to scratch under the Boar’s armor. “Now, we just have to find another one.”

“If you’re sure you’re up to it.” Port also started to scratch the Grimm, while taking mental notes about it. “I don’t want you to push yourself for my sake.”

“It’s fine. I’m still good to go.” Jaune’s face scrunched up in thought, before turning to Rex. “Take five, Rex.” 

“As you wish.” Becoming ink and going back onto Jaune’s arm, the blond pointed to his new addition. “Spins, on point.”

“Got it.” Standing as tall as he could, the Boarbatusk was ready for anything.

“Now, I guess we might as well-.” He was cut off as he was tackled to the ground by Beast. 

“Heads up!” The Ursa yelled as he kept his grip on the Death Stalker stinger, trying to stop it from impaling the blond.

“Sorry, thanks Beast.” Pushing himself time his feet, Jaune took a few steps back as he surveyed the situation. 

From what he remembered from his battle back at initiation, a Death Stalker’s main weakness was where it’s joints were.

The shell that covered it was harder than hard and the stinger was the only thing that could pierce it. 

‘This is going to be a pain in the ass.’ Jaune realized as he watched Beast struggle against the sting, while Soar pelted it with feathers and Spins kept running into it’s pincers. 

He didn’t want to cut anything off, if only because he wasn’t sure it would regrow. 

No point in having a Death Stalker if it didn’t have all it’s stabby and pinchy bits.

‘Maybe if I…’ Thinking back to his first lesson with Port, a thought went through his mind.

“If the top is solid, than the underside has to be weak.” Snapping his fingers, he yelled out his orders.

“I need all of you to keep it balanced!” Gripping his sword, he prepared for what he was going to do. “I’m going to do something stupid!”

And thus he did something stupid. 

Sliding under a Death Stalker and slashing at its underside.

Left hand forcing him forward as his right stabbed and slashed at the Grimm above him. Feeling it shift forward, his blues eyes looked up for a second to see Spins had jammed himself under the Death Stalker, giving him a little more room to work. 

A quick thanks and more attacks, he nearly found himself out from under the scorpion Grimm. 

Until it reared up onto its back legs. 

The blond knew what was about to happen, he just wasn’t sure he could avoid it.

Rolling to the side, he caught glimpses of it coming back down. He punched harder against the ground, hoping he would alter least avoid major damage. 

Just as one of the legs was about to land on him, the Grimm was stilled.

“Grab ‘em!” Beast yelled out as Jaune felt a hand grab him and pull him out from under the Death Stalker.

The good professor was probably going to chew his ass out after they got back to Beacon, or maybe even before they got back.

Still, looked like his idea worked out, if the weird screaming noise was meant to show the Grimm was in pain.

Jumping to his feet, the blond slammed his hand onto one of it’s legs.

“I‘ve had enough of you!” He roared out as his aura over took it. Falling to his knees, he grasped at his skull.

The pain was a sharp sting, as if it was stabbing a single part of his skull. 

But pain he could deal with.

The feeling of it crawling around the inside of his head was another thing altogether. 

But the feeling of both pain and and crawling recede back as the ink on his right arm flew and took shape. 

“Hello Jaune.” The Death Stalker spoke as it held out a pincer, to which Jaune politely shook.

Then he promptly turned away and started to throw up.

He didn’t pay much attention to anything else as everything he ate that day came back out. But he did notice the feeling of a claw and hand on his back again.

“Rude.” 

He just turned his head to glare at her. 

“Shut up, Pierce.” Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he propped himself up on Spins as he started to inspect his new addition. 

“I believe that should be good for today.” Port commented as Jaune tried to stand up on his own. “We can continue the hunt another day.”

“No no, I’ve still got aura.” Pulling out his scroll, it showed he was at sixty percent. “Besides, it just one more Boarbatusk...nothing…I can’t…”

He didn’t finish as he stumbled again, this time into the waiting pinchers of Pierce.

She gently took him off his feet and placed him on her back, using her tail to keep him in place.

“Yeah, thanks Pierce.” Curling in on himself he let out a yawn, while Rex jumped from his tattoo form. “Just need a minute to...rest.”

And with that his head went limp as he fell asleep.

“Has this happened before?” Port asked as he started to inspect the boy for injuries as Rex jumped out from his spot.

“No, to be honest.” The Beowolf adjusted the blond so his head would have more support as they started to move back to the bullhead landing zone. “If I were to guess, I’d say this is more mental exhaustion than physical.”

“I would say the same.” Soar landed on top of Beast, who was on alert if something attacked. “The different Grimm type cause different types of pain as he absorbs them, perhaps a Death Stalker was simply to much for him.”

“Hmm.” The boy’s notes did talk about how the process affected him, so he supposed it was the most likely reason.

“Either way, our main priority is to get him out of here Safe and sound.” There would be time for questions, and another chance at a Boarbatusk, later.

Especially after the lecture he was going to give his student about his own safety.

**A Grimm Semblance**

By the time the bullhead had landed, Jaune had woken up. Using his sheathed sword to prop himself up. The professor gave him strict orders to go to his room and rest.

He wasn’t in any position to go against them, so he went back to his room to spend some quality time with some of his greatest friends.

His mattress, pillow and X-ray and Vav comics.

Eyes drifting over the pages, he let out a chuckle at the antics of the two heroes. 

‘Another good issue.’ He thought as he closed the book and got up to change into his onesie.

‘Still a shame I couldn’t get that Boarbatusk for prof Port.’ Laying back down, his eyes went over to the other side of the room, noting his team hadn’t returned yet. ‘He’s the only teacher who I haven’t gotten one for.’ 

Granted the other teachers were fairly easy to get Grimm for, if only because they were in the Emerald Forest to begin with. 

It did give him an excuse to try to get more though, as the unexpected Death Stalker was a bonus.

Maybe he should try for more expeditions with his professors, give him an excuse to go to different places. 

And he was pretty sure Forever Falls didn’t have any Grimm he was lacking, except for Grimm bees.

He was not taking any Grimm bees.

The voice of legion being in his head would probably be just like a dive off the cliff of insanity.

Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure if he could absorb enough of them to be a threat. 

Not that annoying little bastards with the mental capacity of humans wouldn’t be completely devastating.

Huh, now that he thought about it, the idea was really appealing to him.

‘Whatever happens happens.’ Shrugging to himself, he grabbed his scroll and prepared to waste some time playing some games when a message came through.

‘Cardin?’ Opening the message, he read it as his eyebrows raised. 

“Guess who’s going to be doing CRDL’s work for the next four years if he doesn’t want something to come to the faculties attention?” The blond read out loud into the empty room.

‘This could be a problem.’ Now that he thought about it, he had kind of assumed that the staff were told of his transcripts by Cardin and that his semblance was his saving grace.

Now what was he going to do? If he remembered correctly, Cardin’s father was on the Vale council or something like that, odds are Ozpin couldn’t keep him in Beacon if that kind of weight was thrown around.

So he just had to convince him to keep his mouth shut.

Problem with that was Cardin was a brute, no two ways about it. If he was going to do something, it had to make a lasting impression.

‘And a good way to do that…’ he realized with a smirk as he sent back a message, stating he understood perfectly. ‘Is fear.’

And if there was one thing his friends had taught him, it was that fear was a simple emotion to evoke in people.

Especially when they had a giant Grimm staring down at them.


	4. Trust

Ozpin sat at his desk on Friday morning, casually drinking his coffee as he went over his usual paperwork.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he had a feeling it was going to be of those days.

One of those days where everything goes as it should, nothing too bad, nothing too good.

It goes just fine.

Putting his cup down, he moved his hand to the other cup on his desk.

Picking it up and giving it a tilt, the nevermore in it’s raven form took a drink of coffee.

“Thank you, headmaster.” She bowed her head from her spot on the back of his chair, to which he simply shook his head.

“Please, Beacon, I get enough of that from others. Call me Ozpin.” Although Jaune hadn’t found out the reason why the Grimm he adsorbed had different personalities, the grey haired man was thankful he had one he agreed with.

Perhaps it had to do with the person Jaune was getting them for? Story and Hunter were also fits for Oobleck and Goodwitch.

Speaking of whom.

“Morning, Ozpin.” The history teacher grumbled out as he walked into the office. Despite what people thought, he was not a morning person at all.

Until he managed to drink several cups of coffee.

“Good morning, Doctor.” Beacon quickly jumped from the chair to the desk, which prompted a scratch from the green haired man.

“And a good morning to you too, Beacon.” Getting a small smile out of the man, he took the cup of coffee offered to him. Taking in a deep breath of joe, he let out a content sigh.

“Thank you, Story.” The Beowolf simply nodded as he drank from his cup.

Ozpin felt himself smiling at the scene. Even though they only had their own Grimm for a week, they all had someone they could depend on.

It gave him hope for the future.

“Is there anything you needed to talk about before today?” It was always important to make sure all issues were accounted for.

“To be honest, I do have some reservations on Mr. Arc going on the field trip.” Taking another sip of coffee, Ozpin raised an eyebrow as he brought up the other cup to Beacon.

“It's not so much Mr. Arc himself, but if something were to happen…” The history professor trailed off, but the Headmaster heard the message loud and clear.

Mr. Arc’s Grimm would be going with him on the trip to Forever Falls.

It was one of the demands that they had, if Mr. Arc was to leave Beacon for any reason, even just a trip to Vale, they would go with him.

That seemed reasonable enough to the staff, so it was granted so long as they behaved themselves and only moved if Mr. Arc was threatened.

Granted, the trip was only supposed to be minimal in danger, with Grimm the students had already fought by now.

Still, the risk was there.

“While I share your hesitation, I have the utmost confidence that Mr. Arc will be able to keep everything under control.” Ozpin smiled at the history professor as he waved off his worries. “After all, he wouldn’t want to risk having his position here in jeopardy.”

A Grimm Semblance

‘We should kill him.’

‘No, we shouldn’t, Pierce.’

‘Yes, we should, Jaune.’

‘No, we can’t, Soar.’

‘Yes, we can, Jaune.’

‘Okay, we can, but we shouldn’t.’

This had been going on in Jaune’s head for the better part of an hour, and was making him consider the true definition of insanity.

It was just the same thing, over and over and over.

If he started twitching, he swore to the Brothers…

“Uhh, Jaune, you okay?” Turning his head to his right, he raised an eyebrow at Sky.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Tilting his head to the side, he gave the halberd user a confused look.

“It’s just that…” Russel decided to take the lead, for reasons Jaune couldn’t bring himself to care for. “Your eyes are kinda… all over the place.”

“Ohh.” He had learned about that particular habit from the teachers. He had busied himself with a conversation with his Grimm as he waited for the faculty to decide on the Grimm they wanted.

It was then that they asked him about his eyes.

Since he couldn’t exactly see his eyes, nor would he have a reason to look, he never knew about it.

He wasn’t sure why he did it, but figured it was like he was trying to look at someone while they spoke to him.

The blond hadn’t really given it as much thought, everybody had their own quirks.

Of course, now people were starting to think he was nuts.

Which was...true from a certain point of view.

The blond did have voices in his head that weren’t his own and they were telling him to do some pretty bad things to people that annoyed him.

They seemed to have a basic understanding of morality, but tended to default to violence as a first solution.

Like Nora, only on steroids.

Which was something that he never thought he’d have to deal with.

“Just the voices are acting up again.” Shrugging his shoulders, he acted as casual as he could while trying not to throw up as the bullhead started to descend.

“Ohh.” The all male team seemed to be put off, with the way their gazes turned from him as they all looked pretty anxious.

First rule of getting people to fear you, make sure they understand that there is a reason for them to be afraid of you.

Everything needed a solid foundation to start on, after all.

“What are all of you talking about?” The big bad leader himself came back from the bathroom, seemingly getting sighs of relief from his team.

“We were about to discuss the voices in my head.” Giving him the most innocent smile he could, Jaune tilted his head to the side as he made sure to keep eye contact.

Cardin’s foundation was being a huge guy with a big ass mace. While they helped define the image, it was the fact he was willing to humiliate others that gave him dominance over those smaller than him.

Once again, a brute. A half successful brute, but a brute nonetheless.

Jaune didn’t have the physical strength to fight off Cardin.

So he was going to have to play mind games.

“Voices?” Brown eyebrows raised as he stared at the blond leader. “What do you mean voices?”

“The voices that appeared when I unlocked my aura.” If he was going to play the insanity card, he would have to go all out. Leave no chance to up the crazy wasted.

He had to act so insane, even Jaune would be questioning his own sanity by the end of this.

...not that he wasn’t already.

‘Sometimes, your thoughts and ideas make even the greatest minds look like nothing more than crayon drawings.’

‘I will rip out your lungs, Soar.’

‘Grimm don’t have lungs, Jaune.’

‘I will figure out a way.’

“Jaune.” Without moving his head, his eyes immediately locked onto Sky. “You’re doing it again.”

“Sorry about that.” Leaning back on his seat, his eyes drifted over to his own team.

They were staring at him with varying degrees of worry in their gazes. Giving them a smile and a wink, he watched as they all glanced at each other in confusion.

While the blond understood their questions about what he was doing, he had pretty much everything under control.

Blue met green as Goodwitch gave him a look that seemed to suggest that she also had some questions on why he was with CRDL instead of JNPR, with the way her eyes narrowed and her brows raised.

It was almost like she had some notion that he was plotting something.

Which was untrue, he wasn’t plotting at all.

Everything was already planned out.

Still, probably help out if he answered some of her questions.

And hopefully negate a chance of him getting in trouble for what he was about to do.

“Well, I don’t know about you gentlemen.” Standing up and grabbing Crocea Mors, he gestured to the lone professor with the sheathed blade in hand. “But I see a lovely lady who looks like she might need some company.”

“Are…” Jaune didn’t care to place the voice with a name. “Are you insane?”

The laugh Jaune let out wasn’t forced in any way as he turned around, lightly tapping his head with Crocea Mors.

“You have no idea.”

Sitting down next to the older blond, he gave her a charming grin.

She wasn’t amused, in any sense of the word.

“Mr. Arc.” She began as her hand went to her riding crop. “May I ask why you’re with CRDL, instead of your own team?”

“Oh, no real reason.” Shrugging his shoulders and rolling them a bit, he lightly reached out and tapped the end of her riding crop. “Just a little disciplinary action.”

“Disciplinary action?” Green eyes narrowed in suspicion as his lips quirked upwards.

“Simply put, CRDL has started something I intend to finish.” Blue eyes traced over the other teams on the bullhead, noting that most eyes seemed to be on them.

They probably thought he was nuts too.

“I see.” The professor nodded to him slowly. “Will they be harmed?”

“Only emotionally and mentally, I’ll try not to physically harm them, but I can’t promise that I won’t.”

“If you do, make sure it’s something their auras could heal in a day.”

“That, I can do. And speaking of auras.” Glancing to both sides, he lowered his voice. “Are you and Hunter getting along?”

“Very well.” Blue eyes went to the professor, where her lips had curved upwards just a little bit. “Although, he has been wanting some battlefield experience.”

“I need to get another Boarbatusk for Professor Port. You could come with us if you find some time.” Out of all of the faculty, Jaune had spent the least amount of time with the combat instructor.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was just that usually either Port or Oobleck who tested his friends. With Ozpin popping in every now and again.

Maybe they could have some mock battles? That could be a good way to get her involved.

“Perhaps.” The blonde seemed to consider it, which could probably be a good sign. “Also, Hunter desires to have a match with Beast.”

“I was thinking we could have some mock battles.” He replied as they landed, standing up and stretching as the bull head came to a full stop did so. “I know experience is the best teacher, but I’d rather try some stuff in a controlled environment.”

“Of course.”

“Well, times a wastin’.” Turning to the headmistress, he bowed at his waist and offered his hand. “Shall we?”

A loud smack followed by a yipe as the Disciplinarian contacted Jaune’s fingers. Pulling them back, he shoved them in his mouth as Goodwitch stood up and walked past him.

Seeing her lips turn up just slightly made one thing clear.

‘Worth it.’

‘Weren’t you going to give up on dating until the situation with Salem was complete?’

‘No, I won’t be dating until I can let you guys out and not be disemboweled.’ He thought back as he walked to his team, fingers now healed and dried off with his shirt. ‘Besides, her being willing to date me? Not a chance in hell.’

‘And on the off chance she does decide to accept your advances?’

‘I wouldn’t say no. Cold woman that she was, there was no doubt that Gylnda Goodwitch was a beautiful woman.

And the cold just made it hotter to him.

‘Is this what they call having a type?’

‘...now that I think about it, maybe?’ He did have a thing for Weiss, and she was one of the coldest women he had met.

And he couldn’t say it wasn't attractive to him.

‘We’ll think about that later.’ Walking towards his team, he gave them a nod.

“Okay guys, we need eight jars and have sixteen, so two jars per person and any extra you can keep.” He told them as they eyed him in confusion.

Except Nora.

“Not so fast, fearless leader.” Finger shooting out to accuse him, her eyes held the conviction of someone who found the answer to a mystery. “The jig is up!”

“The jig?” Mind racing a mile a minute, his hand slowly tightened into a fist. “What jig?”

“You thought you had us all fooled, but you didn’t realize that I was on the case.” Her voice was loud and dramatic, drawing in a small crowd.

“Once again, what jig?” Did she know? And if she did, why not wait until there was some privacy?

Was she planning on exposing him here in order to make sure he couldn’t escape? To make sure she and the others could make sure to put him down?

He waited with a single breath, anxiety tearing through his chest.

“You’re planning on world domination!”

Only for her to come so far out of left field they weren’t even at the stadium.

“World domination.” He would admit, the thought had crossed his mind.

When he was like five.

“Nora, why would I want to take over Remnant?” He gave her a confused smile. “Do you know how much work would go into that?”

“That’s exactly what someone who wants world domination would say!” More smiled wide as she caught him in her cunning trap. Ren smiled at his partner's antics as Pyrrha blinked owlishly.

“Nora, I promise I don’t want world domination.” Still smiling as he shook his head, “I’m just going to settle for a kingdom.”

“Settle?”

“I mean, if you take over the world, that means you have to run everything.” The blond explained to his team and RWBY, who was now listening in. “But if you take over a kingdom, then all you have to worry about is what’s in the kingdom itself, while also keeping an eye on the other kingdoms.”

“Granted, I’m not sure which I want. Vale is pretty cool.” A hand went up to his chin in thought. “Guess I’ll need to do some looking around first, I probably need some people too. Hmm.” Turning to RWBY, his eyes settled on his fellow blond.

“Hey Yang, feel like helping me take over a kingdom?” Blinking in confusion, she gave it some thought.

“What’s in it for me?”

“You can beat up anyone you don’t like, as long as you beat up the people I don’t like first.”

“Pay wise?”

“You’ll be one of my inner circle. You’ll get anything you want, as long as it doesn’t start some type of revolution.” He shrugged, to which she nodded.

“I can do that.”

“Sweet, we leave at dawn.” Stopping for a second, he regarded the red reaper. “Ruby can come too.”

“”Y-yaay?” Silver eyes half closed as she tried to figure out if that was a good thing or not.

“Glad to have you aboard.” Walking towards the boarding ramp, he turned back to his friends. “Anyone else who would like to apply, please contact my secretary.”

“...and if someone wants to apply to be my secretary, that’s just fine by me.”

Hefting his teams box, he casually walked off the bullhead, whistling a tune as he did.

“Did he hit his head when nobody was looking?” Weiss, nearly as confused as everyone else, wondered out loud. To which everyone else looked at each other in question.

“I mean…” Ren started. “He could’ve.”

Several more seconds of silence passed, than Blake stood up.

“I’m just going to pretend this never happened and go about my day.” The black haired ninja decided as she walked towards the ramp.

“Sounds good.”

“Fine by me.”

“We’re still taking over the kingdom, right?”

Soon, they all found themselves out in the red forest that was Forever Falls. Jaune was already working on getting sap into a jar.

Without trying to touch the sap itself.

“I wish I brought some allergy meds.” He muttered as he filled his first jar. “You knew about this trip for a week and didn’t even think of it, dammit Jaune.”

“You done, Jauney.” The voice of Cardin was recognizable, if not something he knew he would be hearing.

“Give me a sec…” Topping off his second jar, he carefully placed the lid on it and put it in his team's crate. Shaking his hands to get off some of the sap, he sighed out as he realized he’d need to do some laundry tonight. “How can I help you?”

“Well, I think someone needs to earn his keep, get what I’m saying?”

Well, that was so see through it didn’t exist.

“Yeah yeah, give me a sec.” Standing up, he wiped his hands on the grass. “Gotta go find some untapped trees and drain the lizard.”

“Right.” Seemingly satisfied, Cardin went to return to his team. Not noticing Jaune’s face taking on a dark smirk.

“Welp.” Locking his fingers together and cracking his knuckles while stretching. “Time to have a little fun.”

“Fearless leader.” Nora was behind him, which was strange since she always seemed to announce her presence very loudly. “Is something up between you and Cardin?”

“Nothing to worry about.” He waved her off, but the frown on her face didn’t leave.

“Jaune.” Her tone was serious as she looked him in the eye. “You can trust us, you know that right?”

“Of course.” Looking past her, he saw that their other teammates were still working on their jars, though he couldn’t tell how many they had.

“I was bullied a lot.” She started as she leaned against a tree, her somber tone getting his attention. “Back when I was a kid, when I didn’t have anyone else.”

“Nora.” Sitting back on the ground, his back made contact with the rough bark.

“Since everybody knew everyone, I didn't believe it when I told someone about it.” Looking up into the sky, her frown flipped to a sad smile. “So I had an idea.”

“If I became the strongest, than no one could ever bully me again.” Blue eyes looked up for their spot near the ground, staring at the lightning Valkyrie. “Than I met Ren.”

“He didn’t make fun of me and he always smiled at me.” She went on as her head dropped. “Even when he lost his parents.”

“So I decided to become the strongest, to make sure no one else felt like me and Ren did.”

Standing up from his spot on the ground, he did the only thing he could do.

Pulling the orange haired girl into a hug, he let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Nora.” Patting her on the back, he pulled away and held her shoulders. “I never knew.”

“Well, maybe you could talk to us more.” Letting out a chuckle, he frowned as his eyes started to move around.

“Nora, I haven’t been honest with you guys for a while now.” The blond started as he tried to find the words. “And it’s not your guy’s fault.”

“I haven’t been having trouble with my family, I’ve been working with the teachers with something.” He confessed to her, much to her shock. “And I wanted to tell you, I just wasn’t sure I trusted myself.”

“Jaune…”

“But, now I realize that even if you don’t trust me after, you trust me now.” Pulling off his sleeve, she saw the tattoos on his arm. “And the least I can do is show you the same amount of trust.”

“Tattoos? Is that it?” When her fearless leader started talking about doing something with the staff, she thought he meant super awesome training.

Not just tattoos. But if Beacon was paying, she was in.

Nora always wanted a tattoo, but every time she thought about it something would come up and take her off track.

Although the Grimm designs were cool, she’d probably have Magnhild on her back.

Unless Ren didn’t think it was a good idea, maybe they could get matching tattoos?

“Not quite.” Ink swirling on his arm, it lept off his flesh. “Nora, meet Beast.”

“Goodday.” The Ursa said in greeting with a wave of its arm. To which Nora simply stared at the Grimm.

“Jaune.” She spoke in a harsh whisper. “That Grimm just spoke.”

“You think that’s bad, I have four more in my head.” The blond chuckled at her expression, which could only be described as a mix between “horror” and “wtfhaxx.”

“Jaune, what’s going on?”

“I will explain everything to you guys back at the dorm, I promise.” He assured her. “But first I need to scare the shit out of Cardin.”

Looking between the man and Grimm, the orange haired hammer wielder brought up a hand.

“Pinky promise?”

Taking her pinky into his own, he gave her a smile.

“Cross my heart.” Drawing an X over his chest with the other, they broke apart.

“All right, go get’em.” A smile and a nod with their fists on her hips, the leader returned with a thumbs up.

“Do you need me to break some legs?”

“Sorry, Goodwitch made me promise not to damage them more than their aura can heal in a day.”

“That’s no fun.”

“I know.”

When Jaune walked into the area where CRDL was, they made their displeasure known.

“The hell took you so long?” The leader demanded to know, which the blond just shrugged.

“After taking a piss, Nora cornered me.” He explained to the all male team. “Word of advice, don’t ignore Nora, just-just don’t.”

“Right.” It was a well known fact that the Valkyrie was a force of nature herself.

Ignoring her was probably a one way ticket to “end my suffering” ville.

“Now, we need eight jars of sap.”

“Then you should have started filling your jars.” Jaune looked at Cardin with confusion. “That’s the point of this trip.”

“Unless someone wants their little secret out, they should do what they're told.”

“Ohh, are we playing this game?” Clearing his throat, Jaune tested his voice a couple times. “Okay, think I’m good.”

And his whole stance changed.

“Look, you stupid piece of shit.” Blue eyes glared at the taller male, who was surprised by the blond’s boldness. “I don’t know how you managed to convince yourself that you had any power over anyone, but I’m sure it came from your father sucking someone’s dick.”

“Why you little…” Pulling back his mace, he was fully prepared to strike the filthy fraud.

Until it was wrenched from his hand.

Turning around, he came face to face with a large Ursa.

It grabbed him in one hand, lifting the bully off the ground with ease.

Eyes looking towards the rest of his team, he was horrified to see they were also pinned down by Grimm.

“I could let you die.” Jaune started to walk around them, looking around as if wondering about the weather. “I mean, I have no reason to let you live.”

“J-Jaune.”

“After all, if you want to expose my transcripts, I would need to eliminate all threats to keep myself safe.” The blond continued as he looked up at Cardin, who was struggling in the Ursa’s grip. “And right now, that seems like a threat to me.”

“I-I.”

“So let’s just get everything out in the open, kay?” Cardin felt himself get slammed into a tree, disoretend as a foot slammed into his chest.

“As of right now, your bullshit stops.” Pulling back, the bottom of Jaune’s foot slammed back into Cardin, pinning his head to the tree. “Or I’ll have these nice Grimm rip you all to shreds.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Someone needs a lesson.” Snapping his fingers, the blond pointed at the fallen leader. “Ursa, break him.”

The Ursa pulled Cardin away from the tree, only to violently slam him back into it.

It continued like that for several more bashes, Cardin getting progressively worse as each blow connected.

“Now, are we going to play nice?” The blond asked as the Ursa threw Cardin to the ground, before pinning the other team leader to the dirt with his foot. “Or play dead?”

Blue eyes went from the blond to the Ursa, than back again as the foot applied more pressure.

But what caught his attention was the blond’s face.

His skin now a pale white as black veins started to appear on his skin.

“Nice or dead?”

The Leader turned to see his team, Sky pinned by a Beowolf, Dove caught by a Boarbatusk, Russel struggling in a Death Stalkers pincers.

He made his choice.

“Nice.” He managed to finally choke out. “We’ll play nice.”

“Good boy.” The taller male sucked in a breath as the foot left his chest.

Only for it to slam into his face.

“Just so we’re clear.” The blond explained as he ground his heel into Cardin’s mouth. His skin returned to it’s usual color while the veins receded back into his flesh. Pulling out a rag Nora gave him, he threw it onto the other male. “And make sure to keep yourself clean, that sap is sticky.”

Dusting off his hands, he snapped his fingers. The Grimm quickly pulled off of CRDL and proceeded to shoot into the woods.

“Glad we came to an agreement.” Stretching his arms above his head, he felt his back crack as he walked back to his team.

“Cardin?” The leader heard Russel ask. “What the hell is he?”

Staring at the blond, who seemed to be humming while doing a little jig, Cardin made up his mind.

“I have no idea.” He watched as Jaune tripped and fell. Grasping his knee as he rolled around on his back. “But, I think he’s a threat to us all.”

“What do we do?”

“We get evidence.” He turned to his team. “We get evidence and put the bastard away before he hurts someone.”

A Grimm Semblance

When Pyrrha followed her team’s leader into the Emerald Forest with Ren and Nora, she wasn’t sure what to expect.

Well, that wasn’t true. She had an idea.

He was going to tell them about his transcripts.

While the champion knew it would be for the best, she was also scared how they would react.

She didn’t want to lose any of them.

“Well, here we are.” Stopping at a clearing maybe fifteen minutes away, the leader turned to his team.

“Well, let’s start with the important things.” Leaning against a tree with large gashes, he gestured around them. “This is where I’ve been disappearing too lately, most of the time.”

“You’ve been busy.” Ren noted as he looked around, seeing the slash marks all around, the chunks of tree that had been ripped out and the small holes that littered the area.

It almost looked like he had tried to pick a fight with every Grimm in the forest, considering that there was no way the blond could have done all this damage himself.

Which, while admirable, probably wasn’t the best decision.

“I forged my transcripts.”

Pink and blue eyes turned to their leader in shock, while green looked away.

“It’s the reason why I always seem to be behind everyone else.” Sliding down against the bark, he leaned into the position he had always taken when he was resting after training here. “I never went to combat school, nor did I have my aura unlocked until Pyrrha did it during initiation.

Knee bent upwards and hand resting on top of it, he looked back up to the sky.

“I always felt something was up.” Ren admitted to his leader, much to the shock of his partner. “But, I kind of assumed you just weren’t that great in studies and combat, you were more of an on the job planning kind of person.”

“Really?” Jaune was actually kind of surprised to hear that, not the parts he was bad at, but the fact Ren seemed to be okay with this.

“If we’re all going to be honest, which I guess I might as well.” Sitting down himself, he faced his leader as Nora sat to his left while Pyrrha to his right. “You saw the situation, saw what you had to work with and made tactically sound decisions based on that.”

“And I figured that’s why you’re our leader, you can optimize our skills for the problem at hand and come up with a good solution.” Shuffling until he was cross legged, he leaned back onto one of his palms. “Long term and pre set strategies are all well and good, but the ability to think on your feet is just as important.”

“And besides.” Nora cut in, bouncing on her spot with a million megawatt smile. “We’ve met people who think their the greatest huntsman on the planet who couldn’t fight a wet paper bag.”

“The fact that you know and acknowledge that you’re bad at fighting just means you know you need to improve.” A huge thumbs up was shoved in Jaune’s face. “And seeing the damage around here just goes to show that you’re working your butt off to catch up.”

“Aww, thanks guys.” Pink dusted his cheeks as he scratched the side of his neck. “You have no idea what that means to me.”

Turning to his own partner, he gave her a smile as well.

“And I’m sorry, about what happened on the roof.” A quick glance to Nora and Ran, he explained further. “The day before this all started, she offered to train me, which I did not take well.”

“He also told me about his transcripts.” The redhead continued further. “It was what caused the rift we had.”

An awkward chuckle left Jaune’s mouth as he looked away.

“Bout that…” Giving Ren and Pyrrha a sheepish look, he tilted his hand back and forth. “I kinda unlocked my semblance the day after.”

“Was it dangerous?” If he didn’t want people to know he had it, it stood to reason that maybe he was afraid to accidentally hurt someone with it.

“No, well yes, I mean.” Letting out a sigh he took off his sleeves. “I’ll just show you.”

“Tattoos?” Ren had nothing against them himself, not seeing the point in getting one but saw why others might.

He had to admit that they were really good, very life-like Grimm. The way that the ink seemed to want to come to life was exceptional.

Then they flew off his leader's arms and became physical beings.

While Pyrrha let out a gasp of shock, the ninja simply tilted his head to the side.

“You don’t seem all that bothered by this.” Jaune noticed, to which the other male shrugged in return.

“You trusted us with your darkest secret, and are willing to trust us with this.” Eyes glancing at his partner, he seemed to see something. “And judging by Nora’s lack of reaction, I’m going to assume she knew?”

“During the trip, where I may have or may not have threatened Cardin and his team.” Soar jumping from his spot on the ground, he started to circle around until he landed on Ren’s outstretched arm as Rex sat next to Jaune. “He overheard me telling Pyrrha and tried to blackmail me, so I had my friends here make it look like they were prepared to kill for me.”

“Jaune, we are prepared to kill for you.” Pierce pointed out as Pyrrha seemed to get used to the Grimm presence. “I thought we made that clear.”

“Murder is not a good way to solve problems!” Dragging a hand over his face, he let out a groan. “If anything happens, I’d be the prime suspect!”

“So, what your saying is…” Soar interrupted them. “We can, as long as we don’t get caught.”

“No, to whatever you’re thinking.” Finger thrusted at the bird as Ren glanced between them, blue eyes glared into yellow. “Absolutely not.”

“I was just going to say-“ he was cut off as a hand went around his throat.

Rearing back, Jaune threw him as hard as he could.

“Now that that's over with.” Turning to his team, he clapped his hands. “Who wants a Grimm?”


End file.
